

*^ 



Knowledge of Agriculture 



H E 



RlKti 



FORTCOVINC: 
RECX)RD PBDiTlNO HOCbE. 



PATRICK BURKES 



Knowledge of Ageiculttjre 



IK tSB 



ElaHTEENTH DISTRICT OF NEW YOKK, 



A "3 



'cidob'-^ 



FORT COVINGTON, N. Y., 
RECORD PRINTING HOUBE, 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 18t4, hf 

PATRICK BURKE, ' 
In the Office of the Librarian of CongreeSi at Waehington, 



c,^^? 
^^"o 



Fort Covington Printed by W, jE. iManisn* 



I 



INTRODUCTORY 



N 1859 I rented out my place which I had in Brasher, and 
that same year I attended the Agricultural Fair in Canton. 
I saw a great many things at the jb'air: the showmeu, the trotting 
horses and many other things, and I heard some very good music; 
but I did not learn anything about hovr farm work ought to be 
done although I listened very attentively to the agricultural ad- 
dresses. I have noticed a great failure in the covering of drains. 
I called upon Mr. Solomon Walrath to see if be knew more than 
I did about draining. Mr. Walrath is a good farmer ; he received 
a premium from the State Fair 'for under<lraining ; I told him I 
oime to liim to liud out whether he or I knew tue most about 
uuderdraining. I told him if he knew more than I did I would 
be willing to acknowledge it, and he said he was willing to do the 
same ; but on coming to the real statement of the case he did not 
know how to drain his own land, to say nothing of laying down 
rules for others to drain land, which fact he acknowledged, and hia 
acknowledgement was printed at the time and is in print yet in 
the files of the St. Lawrence RepuhUcan, in Ogdensburgh. I^ 
also, saw many stables where the cattle were improperly 
cjired for, and so filthy that they had to be cleaned off before 
being milked. There is no liquid as easy tainted as milk, but 
when a cow is dripping with filth the milk cannot be clean. 
Women are accused a thousand times for making a bad quahty of 
butter when the fault lies with the men ; for a good quality of 
butter cannot be made out of dirty, tainted milk. Every farmer 
ought to have good, pure water in the first place, and good stables 
and the cows well cared for in the second ; and, in the third 
place, a good cellar ; and if he has those three things, and his 
cows are well fed, Winter and Summer, his butter will be of the 
btst quality. 

In order to have good, comfortable feather beds it is necessary 
to keep gpese, and one of the greatest difficulties in raising geese 
is the choking of the goslings by the xjolly-wags ; and though the 
women are often blamed for not taking proper care of them, in 
reality, the fault lies, again, with the men. For if the land wiis 
properly drained there would be no filthy pond holes, nor leaching 
water to harbor these p( )lly-wags. 

I received three Patent Rights: One for "Improvements for 
stabling Cows," granted on the 9th day of October, 1860 ; the 
secuud for an "Improved method of setting posts, 



the 14th day of Soi>tP.tober, 1861 ; and the third for *• Improve* 
tlieiit ill h^>^^-1)('l)s," grantod on thi' 10th duy of Febrnury, 1874. 
I thought at tliat time that I Wouhl procure engravings and have 
a book printed explaining these methods, but I have been unable 
to obtain the engravings, and I am now going to try and explain 
how the Avorlv ought to be done without tliem ; and I trust that 
tlie matter will be so fully explained as to render the aid of 
tjngravmgy un necessary. 

I have not commenced my Patent Eights in order to make one 
cent out of any man dishonestly. I liave, however, seen that 
there was great need of improvement in these things. 1 h&xe, 
Avhile attempting to give the puV)lic the benefit of my knowledge 
Upon these and other pointfi-, sim^jly protected myself in order to 
Secure a fair compensation therefor. By my methods, posts can 
be kept iirin in nil kinds of soil and climate, and cattle can be 
kept as neat and clean while stabled as while gracing in the open 
field ; and the swine can be kept clean and comfortable. In a 
few years two of these Patent Kiglits will become public property, 
bnt, at the same time, no pefaon will have a right to explain in 
book, pamphlet or newspaper for the period of twenty-eiglit 
Veal's, from the 19th day of February^ 1874, any of the methods 
herein described. 

Any farmer piuxihasiug this pamphlet will be entitled to use the 
\vitkin Patent Rights upon liis own farm, but no other. 



2^ec<essitt/ is ihv her/mmn'g of Intent ton, God is the author qf 
l4i(/e^ml^^ wid Aqrlcitlturc is Ute Motkar 
of all Arts.'* 



STABLING 



TN l.*egarcl to tlie st ble. In the first place there should be two 
'*" sleepers, about fourteen inches apart, laid lengthwise the 
stable unslerueatli the middle of the first -^r hjwer floor. A trough or 
- ppout, made out of logs or planks should then be nailed in beUveen 
these sleepers the whole length of the stable. The plank of the 
first or lower floor should then be laid from each side so as to 
project slightly over the edges of this trough or spout. One end 
of the trough or spout should be about three inches lower than 
the other, in order to carry the liquid off under the wall into a 
cistern or other receptacle, where it can be saved for future use. 
This spout should be covered with plank perforated with two inch 
holes, abut two feet apart, to keep out frost and to allow the liquid 
to run into the spout. This plank should not be fastened down, 
but left so that a man or boy can remove it in order to clean out 
the spout when necessary. By running this spout into a vat or 
cistern the liquid can be saved and made of great benefit, for by 
mixing it wirh soil or ditching on other refuse Ifandy, it would 
maU'e the best of top dressing and would enrich any kind of crojj. 

My invention consists in making the raised bed or floor ui3on 
which the cow lies moveable, by placing the same upon rollers, 
and in perforating this moveable floor, for the purj^ose of allow- 
ing urine, &c,, to pass through it, instead of depending upon the 
inclination of the floor to carry f)if the licpiids, I am thereby 
enabled to make the ground floor of the stable tight and solid to 
prevent cold air from entering through the floor to tlie injury of 
the cattle, and at the same time to conduct off the liquid from the 
cows bed, wi;;hout allowing it to run over the surface of the same. 

To enable those, skilled in the art, to fully understand my 
invention I will proceed to descril>e its construction and opera- 
tion : Tlie stable may be constructed in any s'litalde mJmner 
adapted to various requirements and circumstances, but the floor- 
ing of the stable should be solid and built so tight as to prevent 
the circulation of air through the same, this may be done in any 
desirable manner. The manger is made with slats in front, 
between two of which the cowl's necks are secured while feeding. 
An inclined board prevents the cow from losing her feed by 
pushing it out of the way. This manger is built up from a .solid 
impervious floor, through whiclj neither air nor water will pass, 
with the bottom board of the manger raised some distance from 
the Hoor to admit under it the second oj upper floor. This upper 



6 

floor is made up of two timbers rnniiing longtudiiially and con- 
nected to two cross timbers, then these are supported upon four 
©r more rollers. The perforations are made with a two inch 
auger. The end of this movable floor is passed under the floor of 
the manger and secured in a fixed state by a pin, which passes 
down through the lower timber that forms part of the front 
frame of manger. The part of the movable floor that projects 
under the manger has several holes bored through it, so that the 
floor may be drawn out or pushed further in and fixed by the pin 
according to the size of the cows. The next thing is, when the 
planks of the second floor is laid for the cows to stand on, they 
ought to be laid eight inchi-s higher than the first floor. Tie 
gi'oove behind the cows ought to be 2^ feet wide and 8 inches 
deep, and the walk behind the grove ought to be three feet wide 
and the same height as the second floor, where the cows stand. 
My plan is to have this second floor cut in sections wide enough 
for two cows to stand upon, each section acting independently of 
the rest. These sections being made into stalls, and two cows 
of the same size should be tied in each stall. If he wishes to do 
it, a man can tie up as mimy cows in a stable by this plan as if 
there were no stalls. You can tie each cow close to this partition, 
and one of them can be messed without being disturbed by the 
other. My plan is to let the short floor to rest on rollers, or scant- 
ling so as to run the upper or short floor under the manger and 
make it short or long according to the size of the cow, and this is 
the reason for having two cows in each stall. There are some 
people who prefer giving a full or incline to the short floor where 
the cow stands and lies ; but this floor ought to be even. A cow 
always seems to have the fore-jjart of her body the lov/est when 
she choses her own bed in the field, and, that if her head is up 
hill her horns are an incumbrance. If preferred, a stake with an 
iron ring in can be used so as to tie the cow ^vith a chain, either 
by the horns or neck. Milch cows, or young stock want a chance 
to twist their heads to lick themselves ; but cattle that are put up 
to be fattened for beef ou?ht nevwr be allowed to lick themselves, 
for, wherever they lick, the spot turns black. My reason for 
having the gi'oove behind the cows so deep is this : If it was 
shallow the cow, in stepping back, would step into it and drag the 
manure over the floor ; besides, a farmer mig]\t be called away on 
urgent business and, perhaps, would not have time to clean tiis 
stables until the next day, but his cows would not sufifer by this 
neglect. The short floor that the cows stand on ought also to be 
bored with a two inch auger in several places, to allow the liquids 
of the table to run into the spout in the uiuh^r floor between the 
two sleepers meiitiont-il in the first pjirt. A man's own judgme'ut 
will tell him that tliin-e is a great deal of dilference in a cov.' going 
out, dry and clt^an on a cold day, or g<nng out wet, dirty and 
treml)iing with c^ihl. This method wliieii I have described will 
ai)ply to horse stabjes as well as cow stables. When the stalJ.sare 
made in the horae stable lor eiich horse to stand on, there ought 



to be two two-mch scantling under the short floor ; a notch oudit 
to be cut in the scanthng, that is, behind the huraes, on the side 
that rests on the lower floor. The planks in the stall could be laid 
in nalves. so that one half might be lifted up to allow of the und«^r 
floor being cleaned out, should a.iy dirt chance to gatluu- there. I 
behove the floor would be just as strong by being fixed in this 
way. This would be but little trouble, as it W(.uld nut be neces- 
Baij to Clean this under floor more than once or twice a year, 
and, by keeping the floor under the horses clean and dry, anyone 
can see how much it would save, in a year, in the bedding of the 
herses, and how much labor would be saved in keeping the hors.^a 
clean. I have seen light colored horses that had to be washed 
before they could be taken out of the stable. Hog-pens also 
ought to be fixed so as to be dry, I mean where a hog sleeps I 

T'lf ""^I"^ ''''^- '"'*^^^'''' ^^""^ ^1'^ fi^^f^ ''^^^ Wocks under the sills 
and the floor raised aliout two feet from the ground, and eveiT 
chance lor the frost to come up under the cows, and the stable 
could to be cleaned only l)y using an axe w chop up the manure. 
Ui course, it stands to reason that cattle must suffer in such a stable. 
Ihey will eat double the qunntity of hay and provender, and come 
out poorer m the Spring than cows kept in a warm, improved 
stable. Cattle that are cold, wet and dirty cannot be kept with- 
out losing flesh Every stable ought to be well underpinned and 
double boarded and sixteen feet wide from the head of the cattle 
to the back wall of the stable. If the barns also were double 
boarded the hay would be much better preseiTed and more pak- 
tiibie for catt e and consequently lubt longer. 



POSTS 



TN this I am goiug to explain liow to set posts for fences in nny 
-*- aoil or climate without being heaved out by frost, and also to 
keep them from rotting and decaying, for, I am convinced, they 
will keei3 sound many years longer s(H according to my plan than 
they will by being set the usual way. Some people think that if 
they set the posts deep enough so that the frost won't reach 
down to the bottom of them that tliey are safe ; but thifeisnot so, 
it is the water that settles arouiKl^ the post and freezes thut heaves 
them up in the Spring, and every time the post moves up the 
eayth settles under tiie post, and this goes on year after year, 
until it tumbles altogether. I hnve seen people sharpening the 
bottoms of their posts, and when they would come up drive them 
down again. They put me greatly in mind of OTinigan, when 
they knocked his eye out and then knocked it in again. Of 
course, when wood is wet one part of the year and dry the other 
part, it will soon decay. In my plan this difficulty is done away 
with, as I dig a drain wliere I am going to set the posts ; the 
loose soil to be thrown out on one side of the drain and the sods 
taken of from th*> top, if any, are to be saved, and when the sub- 
soil is reached to throw it out on the other side. When a man 
gets his drain dug deep enough there, ought to be a gradual 
descent, so there would be no lodge in the drain. The drain 
must commence to be laid at the upper end, and follow the des- 
cent, and the man who lays tlie drain should have a hoe and shov- 
el to keep the drain clear ahead of him as lie i^roceeds. My plan 
of laying a drain is this: to stand a stone up on edge, at one side 
of the drain, and then to place a fiat stone against it, in a sloping 
position, then the post should be cut according to the incline in 
the stone so that the post would be perpendicular. If flat stones 
are not convenient, cobble stones v.ill do just as well by placing 
the small end downwards, and a fiat stone can be placed under 
each i)ost. In absence of the flat stone a piece of a board will 
do. ^ It is plain that by liaving the thick end of the stone upwards 
it will for)n an arch for the water to run throng ; then over this 
arch it should be Avell packed with small stones, or broken stones, 
they should be packed in such a manner that there would be no 
chaiice for any of the surface soil to Avork in between them. In 
laying the cobble stone, when there are no fiat stone, on coming 
to where the post ought to be put there could be a stone laid on 
each side of tlie drain, and then a stone laid across on the top of 



them find fclu- postn set on tbnt. Miirfm DoyicVrote ;igiTai deal 
about farinino- in li'eland, England and Scotland ; lie travelled 
also in France, and he says that clay soil has its failure, just as 
we liaVe ourselves, tn one pLice you will find a vein of sand and 
close to it a vein of gravel, and a man must nnderstMiid draining 
perfectly to manage in such a case. It seems to me that Doyle 
n< ver knew how to manage such a case himself, or he would ex- 
plain it to his readers. It is true that very fine sand will work 
into a drain nearly where the water will come ; if a man chances 
to come across any of thos ■■ veins of fine sand in the course of his 
drain he nuist throw out considerable of the sand, and dig the 
place lower than the rest of the drain, then he must throw in 
BOiue stones, then some sods of wild grass and lay those on the 
bottom of the drain, over the stones, with the grassy surface 
down, and when he is near the level the sod ought to have the 
green part np. If the vein of Siind rnns across the drain he must 
throw the sand out on each side and leave a space on each side 
to be filled up with .-.ods in a 'ike mannert, at the bottom of the 
drain. These sods will admit; the water, but no sand or gl'ftvel can 
♦ ever work through. When the drain is finished and the po«t-s 
set they can be made stationaiy with some stones, then these 
stones ought to be covered over with cedar htii'k wild glfci^ss 
shavings or straw, whichever is nearest at hand. But care must 
be taken to have the small stones completely covered the whole 
length of the drain, and over this bark or straw, or whatever it may 
happen to be, put some of the top sods with the green side under 
and the loose soil may be put in, and care must be taken to fill 
the drain up with the surface soil until it will be level with the 
top of the ground. If there is any depth of sand in it the drain 
must be laid and covered, either in gravel or clay, before reach- 
ing the feaiid, and if this is done you have nothing to do but to 
set your post on something level and fill up the drain as 
de CA'ibed before — with the loose soil. Then the subsoil taken 
out from the bottom of the drain should be scattered over the 
top evenly. I have dug a great many open ditches and drains 
for covering both in England and Wales, and also in America^ 
and I never yet saw tho plac<i where the subsoil was spread over 
tin; top but that place would give the best crop of any spot in the 
field, no matfer what kind of soil the bottom of the drain might 
happen to be, any clay, that will ♦lissolv-'^, will cnHcl* any soil 
that it is spread over, especially sand. There is no drain that 
ought to be left open at the upper end. At the lower end of 
every drain there should be a box constructed of two-incli plank, 
from three to six feet hmg, and wide and high enough to allow 
its bring cleaned out with a lioe. This box should be cut througli 
tlie top plank, about four inches from the end, to admit tlie 
grate. The sides and bottom of this box should be groved inside 
to conduct and steady the grate. This gra.te should be made, 
the top and bottom piet;es of heavy strap iron, at least half an 
inch wide, the bars of small rod iron or t>f tjoar'se wire, set cioso 



10 

eiion^h to prevent rats, mice, frogsf gy other sucli things from 
getting into the drnin. The bottom bn^r of this gmte shoukl be 
wider thnii the top })ar, so a.« to prevent its being pulled out en- 
tirely. Tliis grate is set in so as to allow its being rpdsed to clean 
out the mouth of the d]-aiu with a hoe when necessary, and to be 
kept in place in order to prevent the frtt(5 and mice and other 
vermin from furrowing into the sides of the drain, which, if they 
were allowed to do, would, in a few years, utterly destroy it. The 
grove in the bottom plank should be cut deep enough to allow 
tlie bottom bar of the gi-ate to sink, the top of it on a level with 
the surface of the plank, and thus allow the sediment to pass by. 
There should be a few furrows plowed each side of the fence 
after the drain is finished, and the posts are set and all done, it 
ought to be fixed off with a shovel and give tlie ground a descent 
from each side of the fence ; this will keep the posts from coming 
up or rotting, as there will be no water around them, and it W'ill 
drain the land as well as secure the fence. Of course there are 
some clay farms that have no stone with wliicli to lay drains. In 
this land, the drain ought to be dug do^^n as deep as a man would 
w-ant to aet his posts, when he has dug down this far he can com- 
mence and dig one-half of his drain six inches lower than where 
he is going to rest his posts, then he can procure an instmmeul/ 
like the one used by carpenters for cleaning out four inch 
mortises. It should be turned up on each side, rounding so that 
a man could run it along tliis lower j^art of the drain and clear 
out a kind of a groove in the clay with it, as large as he wo^ild 
wish a runway for the Avater, then cut green, tough sods and lay 
them across this groove with the green mde down, or timber 
could be made to serve instead of sods, and the timber would 
never sink down in tliis narrow groove and the water would have 
plenty of room to run. The English farmers think that the sod 
of wild grass will last as long as tile. There are bogs about 
fifteen miles from Liverpool called Kainfairth Mosses. They cut 
the turf in this bog, and the farmers buy it for draining purposes. 
It is very soft when first cut : they dry it like biicks, and when 
it is dry they lay their drains with it. Now, when this ditch, 
which I have described, is tilled in there should not be any clay 
put into it. People that are used to draining and know the 
benefit of it always drain their land when they break up their 
greensward, so they can fill theii- drain with the surface soil, for 
if clay or loam is put in it will hold the snrface waters and not 
allow it to leach through ; besides, there are some clays that will 
dissolve like lime, and if there is the least hole it will find its way 
into the bottom of the drain. This, any man can see when he is 
Walking along the road. If there is one inch of a fall in the clay, 
it will crumble and fall away lik slack lime. If the stuff is put 
in as I have given directions the waters will leach through and 
the drain will dischai-ge clear Water. The outlet of every draiu 
should always be kept clear so as to allow a full pass:ige of water 
out of it. 



11 



I 



STONE FENCES. 



have seen a grea<; many stone fences made through the coun- 
try, yet never saw a wtone fence built out of round stone on 
any kind of good soil that became wet but what the stone wall or 
fence would tumble down. The end of the stones, towards the 
middle of the fence, always sink downwards, and then the fepce 
gives out from the bottom. I cut a deep drain, then laid a stone 
wall, I had to cut part of this drain seven feet deep, where there 
were rising ground, or knolls, but I did not have to dig much of 
it that depth. I had to dig part of it this depth in consequence 
of some low land that was above, in order to drain it and to 
allow the drawing of drains from other parts of the field where 
the land was lower, and to have the water emptied out of these 
side drains into this drain and run under where I intended to 
have the fence. I laid this drain as I have explained in my plan 
of setting posts, with stones laid up again the side of the drain 
and a flat stone leaned up against it in a sloping position. I 
laid the drain all the way through in this manner. I filled the 
drain level with the ground with stones and I built my stone 
fence on top of this. 

In 1859 I hired out my place, and the man that rented it had a 
a great haying bee. He had something like fifty or sixty men. 
They examined the dram that I had lail unier the stone wall and 
they all said it could never be improved by any man. I thought 
so myself at that time, but, after all, there was a failure in it. 
When the frost came in the winter and froze the sides and then 
thawed out in the spring the sides crumbled and worked through 
into the bottom of the drain and choked it. If I had covred my 
drain when I laid it first and filled it in with bark or straw and 
surface soil, as I explained in my plan of setting posts, the drain 
would have remained clear. It need not be filled with soil any 
more than a foot or eighteen inches, but care must be taken to 
always put in loose soil, and after that the stones until on a level 
with the surface of the ground, then take a line and lay the foun- 
dation of the wall. The middle of this wall should be packed 
well with stone, that is put in the outside courses of this fence 
should be well supported at the inner end with small stones, so as 
to keep them from drooping in. If a man commences a wall in 
this way and builds but one foot high the first year, he can build 
it according as he plows his land picks off the stones, and by 
doing this he will have a p .ace to draw the stones, which are a 



12 

great deal boHor than putting tlieiii up in hoaps. If a stone fiance 
ia manaj^ hI iii tliiw way there will bo no failure in it, and tlie land 
Avill bo drained at tiu; aame tinu\ If the .stones are gocxl building 
«tones, 8o nuich the better, for it Avill then be a very easy matter 
to build a handsome fence over such a place as this, and it at ill 
never cave out nor in. It would not be advisabh^ to bring many 
cross drains into the drain undta- the stone fence, because the old 
Siiying is that "the constant drop ^^■ears the stone," and it is 
better to bring the water into ditferent drains than to bring too 
much water iuto one. The work would be safer. 



13 



HAYING. 



T road i:i one of the ap;ncnltiiral papers whore tiie leading men of 
^ one of tiie agricultural societies went to view a fiirm. The 
farmer told tliem tliat he never st(>od on either his hay mow or 
hay stacks while gathering in his hay crop. I nevei- coi-ild see 
liow that man bnilt his haystacks without having some one on top 
to lay the hay x^i'opt^i'lj- Perliaps he used a balloon. What 
would that farmer say were he to see a horse on the top of a stack, 
tramping the hay, and yet this is no uncommon thing in England. 
The horse is raised on to the stack by a derrick or block and 
tackle, similar to the way in which material is raised to the top of 
a building. The horse is blindfolded in some manner to prevent 
his becoming dizz> when th^.* stack gets too higli. I have seen 
stacks, near London, on top of which many men Wcre employed to 
receive the hay as unloaded, spread it around evenly and to assist 
the horse in tramping it down. Home of these farmers would 
have three or four teams unloading at the same time. In this 
way it is claimed that the stack is built firmer nnd better, for if 
the hay was unloaded all on one side of the stack it would give 
out on the opposite side, the hny being packed harder on the side 
that received the hav than on the other. In ord<u' to have a stack 
stand firm the hay should be unloaded at each side. In this coun- 
try people prefer green hay to any other. But in tlu' Liverpool 
markets you could not sell a load of gi-een hay in a twelve montli. 
They would not buy green hay. When there is any sap in tlie 
hay it sweats and turns a brownish color. When hay is brown 
witiiout being masty it is in the best condition. The manner in 
which they manage to keep their hay clear from must is, they 
make use of a tube or pipe about three feet high and the same m 
diameter, furnished with two luindles near the top. When they 
•commence to fill the mow or louild the stack this tube is set in the 
middle of the space and the hay is built up around it. When 
the hay is even with the top of this tube it is raised up by mejins 
of these handles and the hay is built up around it again. This 
leaves a shaft running from the top of the stack to the bottom, 
iiato which the bad gases and foul air will gather and be conduct- 
ed o&, leaving the hay to cure without becoming musty or foul. 
A farmer of judgment can easily tell wliether more of these shafts 
are wanting, and how many according to the size of the stack or 
mow. Musty hay is ackno'wledged to be the greatest cause of 



14 

b eaves in horses wherever it is fed. Hay should always be cut in 
the sap. 

There are men who, at our Agricultural meetings, talk, whether 
they know anything or not, aud I read of one of tliese who said, 
lie would as soon believe that a lizard would turn into a bird and 
fly to the top of a tree, as to believe that chess or darnel would 
grow where it was not sown ; 1 ut chess will grow where it has not 
been sown. A piece of fallow ground, part of wliich was high 
ground, and part covered with pond-holes, was sown to winter 
wheat. On the high ground the crop was good, sound grain, aijd 
in and around these pond holes it was heavily mixed with chess. 
The wheat used was perfectly clean, and the ground had never been 
seeded before. How then did this chess spring up. My opinion 
is that chess will grow wherever the land is not properly drained. 



'4 



15 



FIELD DRAINING 



TT/'HEN a farmer is commencing to drain a field, the fii-st thing 
' ^ to be done is, to dig a deep ditch at tlie lower end of tlie 
field, this ditch should be dug some inches deeper than he calcu- 
lates to hh,ve Ins main drain. A.f ter this ditch is fii lished,, the main 
drain is cut from this ditch to the upper end of the field. People 
often make a great mistake by bringing too much Wiiter into one 
drain. To avoid this, people ought to cut s<3veral parallel ninin 
drains. This would enable the water to be divided mcn-e equally. 
Then there should be a head drain, cut along the upper end of 
the field, then there should be cross drains to carry the water into 
those main drains, the fall from those cr,oss draiiiH; until the main 
drains shoidd be gradual, an inch or two is fall enough. Some 
people bring the cross drains into the main drain at both sides 
directly opposite one another; but it is a better plan not to bring 
them in exactly opposite. My reason for this is the laud on one 
side of the main drain, might' be very springy which would occa- 
sion a greater flow of water and choke the mouth of the drain 
drain oj/posite. As a general thing, people, dig all the drains in 
in a field, before, they commence laying any of them. It is often 
the case that there are sag holes, at the foot of a hill, where the water 
spnngs up, some people cut their head drains under these sag 
holes, by doing this, these sag holes can never be prc^^erly drained. 
The head drain ought to be cut above these sag hol(\s along the 
top of the field. If the main drain or any of the cross drains come 
across those soft places, the drain should be dug some two or 
three feet deeper and filled with stones packed down close until 
they come nearly level witli the bottom of the drain, then get sods 
of wild grass which is easily procured in such a place as this, lay 
those sods on top of the stones with the grass side down and when 
it is just level with the rest of the drain; lay the last sods with the 
grass side up, then you can lay it eitlier with tile or stone across, 
let it be remembered when a inan is di.'ging his drain, to throw 
the h)ese soil on one side and the sub-soil on the other. Where 
I have helped to drain in England, they generally do their draining 
just after ploughing up the green-sward in the field they intend ^d 
to drain. The first drain they lay, is the drain at the upper end of 
field, when that is laid they commence to lay the main drain 
down towards the bottom. When a man is laying a drain he 
Bhould have a hoe and shovel and keep his drain perfectly clean 
as be goes along. I have heard a great many people say that tho 



16 

snrust way to lay a drain is to lay a stone up against the side of 
tli<^ drain if it is six inches thick it will be thick enongh then get 
fi fin t stone and let one end of it rest on the stone Avhich ifi laid 
ugidnst the side (^f the drain and let the other end come in contact 
with the other side of the drain in a standing position and then 
fill those np level Avith small or broken stones and a man must 
make snre and secnre his drain with plen+y of small stone, over 
this so as not allow any of the surface soil, working down into his 
drain. When a man does go to the expense of draining, it should 
be done right, or not at all. I have S(h^u people breaking stones 
for drains as they break them for macadamized roads, and filling 
up the drain with th^se a foot or fifteen inches in depth, I have 
a' so seen people drawing cinders from a l)last furnace and fillii g 
111) til e drains v.'ith them, if thore is no flat stone, round stoi e 
c >uld be used instead, by placing them in the bottom of tlie drr n 
with thr small end down, but there should be enough broken fur 
to fill the drain to the depth of five or six inches, tbis wonld save 
a great deal of labor, not having to break all the stones for the 
bottom of the drain, as these round sto)ies take up a g<.od depth 
of the drain, and the drain in my opinion would be better laid in 
this mannei-, because there is more chance for the water to run 
l-.etween tliose stones, then if they were l)roken a man x3ught to 
have his cedar bark, shavinc^s, wild grass or straw, wdiich ever it 
may be, and cover his drain as he goes along to i)revent any 
sediment from the top getting into his drain, the next thing to be 
done is to lay sods with the grass side down, on top of this straw, 
bark or shavings. If it is green-sward, just ;ifter being ploughed 
and sods ar(; ccmvenieatly plenty, drains might be filled with them 
lo a level with the surface of the ground; if not, fill in with the 
loose surface soil, and then spread subsoil evenly over the field. — 
Do not use any of the heavy snl)8oil to fill up the drain, for if thia 
tliis should be"put in ]t wanld hold the surface Avater, as well as 
ever, and not allow it to sirik into the drain. I have seen ^irface 
jvater turning corn, wlieat and other crops yellow and retarding 
its growth aft(»r a he;ivy fall of rain. It would be well to reinmber 
that the farmer ought to measure the distance between hie cros-i 
drains, Thev do in Englnid, in most cases, for, when a "planner 
walks ahmg the foot of hi^; field, ho. will see if the main drains. 
nio in good working order, or not, and, if lie sees a fivihu'c in any 
of them he c m take his spade, and not varry six inche;'. from 
where* he ought to dig and will soon find out the failure, and 
wliere it is. "if a man is laying a drain in clay land when he has- 
his ni;iin drains cut, and his cross drains also, he can get an in- 
s'rument made in the shape of a gouge tiiat a r'.ar[>enter uses to 
dress out niortisces with, he c.iiii h.ijre this tu]-ned up at the handle 
and the handk> should be about four or live and a-half feet_ ^-^-^^^S, 
so a man can use it conveniently, and he ^.au cut a groove in the 
bottoui of the drain about three i\\n\ 0)ie-hali or four inclu>s wide 
wide and the sajiie in deptli, then eov(T over the top of this, witlj 
wild gi-ass or split cedar, if there is any ton>enitiit. I once aiiK^ft 



17 

di*ain in the bottom of a clay cellar, the bottom of which waff 
grooved out in the form of a V, narrow at the bottom and wider 
at the top, and this groove was covered with thin bark. It liad 
lasted 30 years. If a man is draining in sand with a clay bottom, 
just as soon as he reaches the clay he ought to dig deep enough 
in thi8 clay to lay his drain without laying it in the sand. There 
IS always plenty grass where draining is needed, and if a man 
meets with any veins of sand in his draining he should be careful 
to stop them with sods of wild grass. This will allow the water 
to come through, but not the sand. If any of the surface soil 
works from the top into the drain it is soon choked up. It is a 
poor soil that does not form a turf sod when it is greensward, and 
sods IS the kind of stuff a drain should be filled up with, if pos- 
sible. If the drains are managed as I have described, when a 
plowman goc.^s to plow he will lay liis lands in such a manner that 
the water will follow the plow, and. as soon as it comes to these 
cross drains it will disappear and go into the main drains and the 
main drains discharge clear water, and that is a great deal better 
than to have the best of the surface soil carried away by the water 
into ponds, rivers, ditches, or along roadsides. I l\eard a man in 
Brasher say that draining was of no benefit to clay land. He said 
that if he were to dig a hole 2i feet deep, fill it with water, and 
then dig another near it leaving it emptv, the water would not 
run from one hole to the other. Now, I will leave the question to 
any man who may chance to read this, if this hole would come in 
proximity with or over one of these main drains which I have de- 
scribed, would not the water be speedily carried off. Another 
man sfiys he can dreain with sand in clay land, but both of these 
men labor under a mistaken idea, and would lead other people 
astray if they knew no better than to attempt to be guided by such 
suggestions. I have seen sand so fine that water would di-ain 
through very slowly, and I am of the opinion that it would not 
drain through at all. To remedy this I hare seen people go into 
a gravel pit and taking a screen made of edgings, and " throwing 
the gravel against it so as to separate the sand from the gravel. 
They take particular care not to have any sand among the gravel, 
then they will draw and fill the drain with this gravel to the 
depth of twelve or fifteen inches, and then cover with the surface 
soil as before. If fine sand were allowed to remain in the gravel 
the action of water would tend to collect in some one spot, and 
thus choke the drain and make it a failure. No grain whatever 
will start to grow until such time as the right lieat is in the 
ground, and on any clay or good soil that is covered with water 
in the Spring, and retains it until the sun dries it up, instead of 
growing to its natural growth ; it becomes shrivelled and dry, 
where, if the land, instead of being covered with water and kept 
cold all Spring, had been dry and mellow, the crop would have an 
early start before the drouth of Summer could have affected it. 
As soon as the crop covers the gi-ound it draws moisture from the 
Bubaoil. One acre of land worked and taken care of properly is 



IB 

Wottli five Acres but half worked. If a man should throw his coat 
pD the ground, the warmest day in Summer, when the dust in 
flying in every direction, when he comes to take it up in the eve- 
ning he will find the gi'oond under the coat moist. There is no 
drain that is open but should bo secured at the open end in this 
manner, whicli I mentioned in another part of this work, to keep' 
out rats, mice, and all other things which might work up into the 
drain and injure ii. 



i 



x^ 



WELLS. 



rpHERE is nothing more Important or requisite In the making 
-*- of butter than good, pure^"^holesome water, and perhaps therd 
is nothing so little understood as the proper management of wells. 
There is hviug at Brasher, St. Lawrence County, in this State, a 
pump maker by the name of Hall. His agent sold a pump to & 
farmer residing in the same town, the fanner giving in payment 
his note, payable some time in the future. Before the note camd 
due the farmer sued J. Hall for damages, because, as he said, the 
pump spoiled the water in his well. There was a jury on the case 
and one witness swore that he drank of the water before the pump 
Wiis put in the well and that it was good ; he swore, aLso, that he 
drank of the water after the pump was put in, and it was not fit 
either for man or beast to drink. Then the pump was pulled out 
and he swore that he drank the water afterwards and it was good, 
and he also declared that the pump spoiled the wator. The jury 
disagreed, and each party had to pay their own cost. These same 
jurymen were well iaformed, but neither the jury, lawyers, or the 
justice could tell where the failure really was. The Justice waa 
Mr. Edgeton, of Brasher, and he is spoken of by everyone as an 
upright, honest man. The pump was made out of tamarac, and 
the gum that exudes from the tamarac is considered wholesome 
to chew, but is used also as a medicine. No man, of course, has 
any suspicion that the witness perjured himself, because he bB- 
lieved it was right, and, as fav us he could see, it was the pump 
that spoilerl the water. I procured a copy of the minutes of the 
trial from Mr. Edgeton at that time, and they are now in my 
possession. I beUeved that, instead of the pump spoiling the 
water the water spoiled the pump. When a man has decided to 
dig a well ue generally chooses the driest season of the year. As 
he digs down the soil changes from one kind to another, and there 
is not a change of soil but that there is a runway for water be- 
tween the different soils, no matter if he were to dig down 
fifty feet. After the well is finished these runways continue to 
ruQ in the same manner as the well was dug, except when the 
water in the well is low ; then only those that are lower than the 
surface of the water will continue to nin, and as the wattu- in the 
well rises they all resume their flow. Of course, the surface water 
is the first vein of water met with in digging a well, yet it is very 
seldom that this runway is ranniug when he is digging the well. 
It is ^uly after a heavy raiu iwid the ground -a batur-dtfi-l ^^^^ 



20 

water that tlio surface veins are in running order. There are 
many things that go to render wells and springs impure and 
unwholesome, such as dead animals and carrion of all t inds which 
are allowed to lie and rot on the ground or in the ground, hog- 
pens, stables and privys, the substance of which is absorbed by 
the surface water, while the ground is saturated after a heavy 
rain, and in the course of events is carried by this surface vein, 
running into the well. When the well was low, before this rain, 
all the foul gases and sediment settled in the bottom of the well, 
and as quick as the water raises in the well it takes its course iu 
these runways as it did before the well was dug ; and while this 
water is taken up with a pail or bucket it tastes well enough, 
although the foul gas and sediment are yet in the bottom of the 
well. But as quick as a pump is put into this well the gas and 
sediment in the bottom spoils both the pump and the water. It 
is about 14 years since this law-suit took place to which I referred, 
and it has been argued and talked about by a great many people 
since, and I never heard any two that could agree or come to any 
Batisfactory explanation as to the reason why the water should be 
good before the pump was put in, and bad while it was in the 
well. And this is not the only well. There are thousands all 
over the country in the same situation. Now, it is no diiference 
where a man digs his well if he knows anything about it, he can 
secure his well in such a way that he will have good water. After 
the well is finished he sliould dig a drain around the well, and he 
must be sure not to lay it in the surface soil but in the first gravel 
or hard pan he comes to. If that is done and covered as I have 
heretofore described and have it meet around the well, and then 
run it from the well in order to draw the surface water away. In 
making the platform over the well he should have it project over 
the drain, so that every drop of water, or anything which may be 
spilled around the well be carried off in this drain. It is plain to 
anyone that no filth or dirt can get into the well by following this 
plan. There is no land in the world but has different kinds of 
gas, and when a w^ell is first dug these gases settle in the bot- 
tom, hence a pump sliould not be put in such a well for at least 
five or six weeks after being dug, and even then the woll should 
bo pumped dry and well cleaned out, and they should be cleaned 
two or three times at the first. Some people aver that when a 
platform is mad« over a well and the pnmp put m, that there is 
no circulation of air to and from the well, and that without this 
the water is apt to become foul. To remedy this evil a hole can 
he cut in the platform, twelve by eighteen inches, over w'aich a 
box, made for the occasion out of inch boards, a foot or moreSiin 
height, can be set. This box or crib should be perforated at tlie 
sides and ends to within four inches of the platform, the perfora- 
tions being made wdth an inch auger. This box should cover the 
platform so as to prevent accidents, or leaves and dirt from getting 
into the well. This would allow the air to circula^"e freely. Thrre 
is 110 di"ink so welcome to t-ho thirsty as a drink of good pure 



21 

water, and unless the wells are kept clean it will be impossible to 
assure it at all times. If the wells are fixed and managed as I 
bave described people will have fewer foul wells, and the quality 
of butter will be greatly improved. 

I read an account in 1859, in the Albany WeeJcli/ Journal, of two 
men that engaged to clean out a well. One of them became dis- 
couraged and refused to go down, but the other man went down 
and in fifteen minutes he was buried beneath thirty-two feet of 
debris, the well having caved in. This sad accident, though 
allocking, is not the only one on record. I liave never, since that 
time, noticed any statement made as to where the failure in that 
well existed. When a man sets out to dig a well let him digit 
seven feet in diameter. That leaves two feet all around for the 
wall and three feet for tlie inside of the well. The stones being 
set, thus wedging will prevent the well from caving inwards. To 
prevent caving outwards the space behind the well should b^^ veil 
packed with small stones or gravel, and this should be done u; the 
well is being built. With a well built in this manner it is o.ii. of 
the question that a stone should give way. The well in qut Nlion 
was dug, for the most part, through a strata of sand, and xjeriaps 
in a very dry time, and the well was very improperly staye^l at 
the back. When the rains came the surface water carried the sand 
with it. This continued until the support at the back gave way, 
allowmgthe stones to become loose, and the consequouvie was 
that the well caved in and the man lost his life. If, in digging a 
well, a man should come across such a vein of sand the wall should 
be braced so as to bind both inwards and outwards as far as the 
sand extends. As sand will come in at most points where water 
will, he should proceed as laid down in Field Draining, by pro- 
curing sods of wild grass, and place them between the wall and 
the sand. Th(.\se sods will not spoil the water, but will allow it to 
run into the well witliout carrying the sand with it. Some people 
imagine that clay will do as well as sods, but this is a mistake. 
Most clay will dissolve like lime and be carried into the well as 
sand. Moss filled in the interstices of the stone will also help to 
keep sand from running in. It is to be hoped that men will be 
more careful in constructing their wells so that no such accident 
as this should again happen, as this poor man was caught in a 
worse place than they at liall's Eun, for they could and did run 
awayj while he, poor fvUo-v, co^ild ::'>'■ 



t^ii 



TBEES. 



T noticed in the Weekly Sun of March 25th, 1874, some r«mark 
-*- about the usefulness and value of trees. Tlio writer recom- 
mended that they be set out along the roadside as a preventative 
against winds and storms, and with him 1 full/ agree. Were you 
to stand on the top of a hill in England and make a survey of the 
Burrounding country, you would imagine that it was nearly all 
woodland, yet an inspection of these farms would reveal the fact 
that no necessary land was taken up by trees. They are set 
out along the roadsides and all the fences on the farms, and they 
add not only to the liability from damage to the crops by storm 
or wind, but to the beauty of the scenery, ani are a source of 
comfort, not only to the farmer but to his cattle as well. In 
Hildon Parish, Buckinghamshire, Eng. , the workingmen boast 
that within no other two miles square in England can as much 
live oak be found. It is no trouble to load either hay or grain in 
these fields, and the comfortable shade in the heat of the day, a 
luxury unknown to many, very many of the cattle upon our open 
fields and prairies. The writer in the Sun goes on to say that 
there is no better way to combine utility with profit than by 
planting these trees. They draw fully one-half of their sustinance 
from the roadside, and by a little good management may be made 
to draw the most therefrom. It would seem that, from these 
remarks, some are afraid that if these trees were planted and 
allowed to grow they would rob the plow-field of some of its 
strength, and so they would unless care was taken to prevent their 
roots from striking out into the field. Th e roots of large trees 
will run out a long ways if allowed to grow, and perchance in soil 
that would otherwise produce excellent crops of whatever was 
sown ; since the trees were planted and their roots had taken 
possession of tiie ground, would produce but inferior crops. 

I had the following inserted in the St. Lawrence County papers 
80) ne years ago : 

*' On my way to an Agricultural Fair, I saw a man at war with a 
Balm of Gilead tree, the roots of which had taken possession of 
Lis cabbage garden. It had taken stronger posaessicm than ever 
Napoleon did of the sod of Austria. This man would remind you 
of the Irishman who went to cut fat pine that had been buried 
eighteen feet beneath tlie bogs of Allan, in Ireland. evcT since the 
days of Noah's flood. I asked him why he did not take the pre- 
CAiiUiihi W ^t*■.'^>^-^.- +2r-i iiyrx^ .it tl^a tu- -> - '.-•...when he 



23 

planted it/ He said it was impossible for a person to do this i»-- 
less he would cut the roots with an axe. Now, if anybody knows 
how to do it, it is no trouble at all. 

[Signed] PATRICK BURKE." 

If a man says he can do a thing and then cannot, he should be 
set down as an imposter. After the trees are planted along the 
fences it is but little expense or trouble to plow a trench between 
the trees and the adjoining fields, then get a spade or shovel and 
square out the bottom of this trench to the depth he requires j 
the most of the dirt should be thrown up against the fence and 
around the trees. If it is fixed as it should be it could be 
mown as well as any other part of the field. It is plain to any 
man that the roots of these trees will run along the fence, but 
never cross this trench. If they come to tVie edge of the trench 
they will turn up, but never cross it or take root on the opposite 
side. I care not if the trench was only a foot wide. The roots 
of these trees growing along the fence will bind in one with 
another, all along the fence. The most dangerous time for trees 
to be blown down is in the Spring when the frost is leaving the 
ground, and it Js plain that those trees having their roots en- 
twined have more power to resist the high wmds than when 
standing separate. They should be planted far enough apart to 
allow apple trees to be set out between them, and by having this 
trench dug and kept clean there should be but little dampness 
among the roots of the trees. It is not natural for an apple tree 
to do well in wet soil. A man could rise up in the morning, and 
travel until sundown in Warwickshire, Gloucestershire or Oxford- 
shire, in England, and you could see nothing in the field because 
of trees along the fences, until >ou come to a gate. After harvest 
they gather all the apples and bring them to the mill and make 
cider of them, and it is no uncommon thing for a farmer to have 
1,000 barrels of cider in his cellar. The cat said when it eat the 
bagpiper that it was both meat and music, and a man that would 
drink a gill of this cider would say that it was both meat and 
drink* 



u 



TKENCHING AND SUBSOILINiG. 

1 HAVE read in some of the Agi'i cultural papers, that in irencli" 
•*■ ing a garden a person should avoid bringing the subsoil to 
the top. It is my opinion that the writer thereof never did sub- 
soil a garden and that he knew nothing about the subject in any- 
way. When a garden is beginning to grow foul it should be 
trenched and subsoiled. Tlie fir.st thing to do is to take a strip 
11u> full width of the garden and two and a half feet wide, then 
take the upper half of this and plnce it in a pile by itself ; then 
remove the lower half, putting it in a separate pile. This trench 
should be about two feet deep. Now your trench ia 
cleai- to begin with. Take another strip the same width and cut 
it a.s deep as you think there is any foul stuff, throwing it into the 
first trench until within two or three inches of the top. Manure 
should have been drawn on the ground beforehand, and when 
you have raised your first trench as high as just spoken of, spread 
some of the manure on and fill the remainder of the trench with 
the subsoil of the second. ^ Your second trench is now clear for 
coniuiencing work upon the third. Continue on working one 
trench after another until you come to the last trench, and then 
what was taken up first out of the first trench should be put in 
the bottom of the last trench, and then the subsoil from the first 
trench should, be put in to raise it the right height for the 
manure. By doing this it wiP enable the manure to be near 
enough to the surface, so that any crop which may be put in can 
liave the benefit of it. I have heard people say that any weed 
which is Vuried iriue inches and the manure on top, as I have 
described, will never grow. 



25 



CELLAKS. 



npiHERE are few farmers that are fortunate enough to have a 
-^ building site so that there is a fall for the water from each 
side. The most of them have their houses built so that one part 
of their cellar is four or five feet deeper than the surface on the 
other, this causes the dampness from the surface of the soil to 
come to the cellar wall and keep it wet continually. Some of 
them lay their cellar walls without lime or plaster of any kind for 
about four feet high, then they lay it with mortar for the 
remainder. When they commence they lay the bottom of the 
wall with the largest stones they have ; then, when they lay their 
drains from the cellar, they have the mouth of the drain open, so 
that rats and mice can come up the drain into the cellar. Begin- 
ning the wall in this way, leaves holes between those large stones 
80 that the rats and mice get under the wall and make runways 
for themselves, and work along until they get up on top of the 
ground. Very often a man will lose aU. of his potatoes on account 
of these runways by the frost getting into the cellar through these 
runways ; yet, perhaps, the farmer would not be aware of the way 
in which the frost came into his cellar ; often the rats and mice 
destroy a drain so as to occasion back water, malcing the cellar 
damp and foul. I don't care how careful or industrious a house- 
keeper is, she can not have pure milk and nice fresh butter in 
such a damp, foul cellar. Now, to save all this trouble, it would 
be but httle more expense to dig the cellar eighteen inches 
larger all around than it is intended to build the cellar wall. A 
drain should be laid all around the outside of where the wall is to 
b« laid. Then, when at the place where the drain leading from 
the cellar commences it should be dug a little lower than the 
other ; then the top of this drain should be covered with large 
flat stones. A cellar wall, to be right, should be laid in mortar 
from the foundation. When this drain is laid great care should 
be taken to prevent the surface soil from working through, it 
should be packed well with small stones after being laid, and if 
there are none at hand small enough, they should be broken. 
Then cover them over carefully with cedar bark, shavings, straw 
or wild hay, and cover this with sods of wild grass, with the grass 
side turned downwards ; and after the cellar wall is built, if it 
could be got at, the remainder of the drain should be filled, level 
with the surface, with black muck. It would not take much, and 
there is but very few farmers but L --^ ' lack muck on their farms. 



26 

It. is plain to anyone tliat wliatevcr water comes from the npper 
land will be taken away in this drain, instead of keeping the ceUar 
damp and foul, and it also keeps the cellar wall from giving away. 
I have known of buildings falling on account of the bad founda- 
tion. Some people lay it to the masons when H is not their fault 
at all. For I have seen every course of stones bound in the 
middle, and yet the wall gave way. When the cellar drain is 
laid, if there is much of a fall from the cellar, it need not be laid 
any further than it can be covered well. It is no difference 
whether the dram is laid with stone or tile. The mouth of the 
drain should be protected by box and grate as described in Field 
Draininc: to keep out rats, mice and other vermin. By having 
the drain thus protected no water will remain in it to freeze, 
and form a neucleus for frost in the cellar. People that have wet 
cellars now, the best way for them to do is to dig a drain all 
around, within one foot of th« cellar wall, until it is brought out 
to the drain which goes from the cellar, and it should be low 
enough so that it can be laid even with the cellar floor and then 
cover it as I described before. This drain must be dug all around 
the cellar within one foot of the cellar wall, inside the cellar ; 
when this dram is filled up level with the cellar floor and covered 
he should, if flags are not at hand, break up stones and fill in this 
foot of space between the cellar drain and the wall. If this was 
done and a rat should get in through the cellar door or windows 
it could never work in under the cellar wall. When the cellar 
is damp every drop of milk that falls on the floor causes a foul 
smell. A farmer should have a separate cellar for his milk and 
butter ; they should neder be kept in a cellar with pork, fish, 
potatoes, and such like stuff. I have seen cellars, that if a tub of 
butter was to be kept in it two or three weeks, let it be ever so 
fresh and sweet when placed there, it would taste old. There 
should be plenty of good, pure air in a cellar where milk and 
butter are kept. To have the cream rise well and to keep the 
butter sweet and fresh the windows can be fixed on the outside 
so as to exclude the rays of the sun from the cellar. It is not a 
good plan to have too much light. A twilight is allowed to be 
the best for a milk cellar. This light could be produced by 
shading the cellar windows in such a manner as to obtain air and 
but little light. The English ppople do not have as low places 
for their milk as we have, for their Summers are not as warm as 
ours. ^ I never saw a place for milk in England but tliat the floor 
was laid either with flags or flat stones, made for the purpose. 
They sprinkle their cellar floors with cold water and mop it out 
jiist as regular as any room in their house. As for their butter,- 
they do not tub it and keep it as we do here, for what they chum 
one day the day following they take to market. I do not think 
it should be considered very expensive to lay a cellar floor with 
tile if it makes the cellar any better, and I think the majority will 
agree that it is better than a clay bottom, if it be only to enable? 
a person to mop it out and keep the cellar clean and fresh. 



27 



KAIL, AND THE HANDLING OF MANURE* 



^JiHERIl ore tlioitsanda of peop"!e employed annnally picking 
J- kail or wild mustard out of \vheat, oats and other crops. I 
have heard farmei's say that they would give hundreds of dollars 
to be rid of it. 1 believe it never can be done away with in the 
fields. It must be killed in the barnyard. First, there is no 
farmer that has kail in his land but should clear out a space in hi3 
barnyard, and then pile up all the nicinure in a heap on this clear 
Bpot, mixing cow manure, horse manure, and all kinds of litter 
and straw together. He should be careful to clean about his bam 
door, where the threshing is done, and the barnyard ; it also 
should be thoroughly scraped and cleaned out with a hoe, and all 
the stuff that is scraped up should be put into this heap of 
manure. Care should be taken not to put it on the outside of the 
heap, but into the middle of it. When the manure is all thro\vn 
together water should be thrown on the heap. Then it will fer- 
ment, and after it heats and ferments none of the seeds which 
were in this heap of manure will grow. If it rots or steams too 
fast water should be put on to keep it from steaming, as the 
Bteam takes the strength out of the manure. Some farmers 
scrape np all the slush in the barnyard and throw it around on the 
outside of the heap of manure, and then smooth it off with the 
back of a spade or shovel, this should not be done because it pre- 
vents the air from mixing witli the manure and it will not rot, 
unless it comes in contact with the am I have heard many 
farmers say that it is better to keep the manure under shelter, 
that they could tell by it smelling so strong, and at the same time 
the strength of the manure is steaming away. I defy any man to 
mention an instance where he has ever noticed any noxous weed 
growing out of a large heap of manure. Some people will leave 
manure in for a year, thinking that by so doing they will stop the 
breeds from growing, but at the same time the manure is not much 
better than good soil. I have seen horse manui-e that had been 
kept under cover and it was so white that it was valueless, becaue 
the strength had all steomeed out of it. Some will say that it is 
some work to pile up the manure and fix it as I have described, it 
is some work, true enough, but it is work that will pay. It is 
true that God gives us the means of making a living, but it is 
true, also, that we should work for it in the best way we know 
how. Our climate is cold here, and when we throw out the 
manure it is mixed with frost and snow, and if it is it will not 



28 

lose any of its strength until the Spring of the year. If it is 
managed as I have described, two years manure is better than 
three years, when allowed to rot over a year. There is not a 
county from Liverpool to London, Eng. , but I have been in, and 
worked for farmers. I lived there for twenty-one years, and those 
farmers never had any fear of their manure spoiling in the winter. 
They managed the manure as I have described Their weather is 
warmer in winter than ours. Now, our small farmers in this 
country are unwilhng to Summer-fallow any of their land for fear 
of losing a year's crop from the piece of *land which should be 
plowed. If they would plow it early in the Spring and then drag 
it and before it went to seed, buchwheat could be sown. If the 
farmer should object to buckwheat it could be sown to corn. If 
buckwheat should be sown after the crop was harvested and taken 
from the field, the grown should be dragged directly, and then 
the seed of the buckwheat remaining in the ground would grow 
and the Winter frost would kill it, and by that means the buck- 
wheat would be exterminated, and the kail, also, remaining in the 
ground would spring up and be killed by the frost. If sown to 
com there is the same need of dragging. I have known farmers 
that bought very little hay, and that very little contained seed 
enough of the white daisy, so that their pastures and meadows 
are covered with it now. If the manure had been managed aa I 
have described it would put a stop to all this damage. 



THE END, 



.1 

A 



ADDEFDVM. 



H' 



HOG-PENS. 



'OW to build a hog-pen to prevent the hogs from freezing to 
death in winter; to prevent their death being caused by the 
filth aud steam in summer; and to prevent the sow from crushing 
her young against the wall when she lies down. 

In building a new hog-pen, the sleepers should be laid crosswise 
the build ing, the two sleepers nearest the center being laid about 
twelve or fourteen inches apart, in order to place a spout between 
them, si milar to that described in the *' Stabling of Cattle;" the 
other sleepers being laid at regular distances as in other floors. — 

The floor should slant slightly towards the center in order to 
carry the liquid into the spout. It should be perfectly tight to keep 
out the cold. A second floor should be laid over this; this floor 
should be set on four inch scantling, the scantling laid lengthwise 
the pen. The boards or planks should be narrow, and not laid 
tight; but so as to allow the liquid to pass through to the lower 
floor. The plank that covers the spout should be fastened with 
hinges to allow being lifted when it becomes necessary to clean 
the spout. But if you do not wish to save the liquid,the under 
floor is not needed, but a drain should be dug underneath the 
foundation, tlie same as for cellars, t(»jiarry off tlie liquid and pre- 
vent its becoming stagnant under the 'pen. If the under floor is 
done away with, the second floor in the sleeping apartment 
should be made perfectly tight, and the floor in the eating apart- 
ment should be made as described for the upper floor, aud in 
fact but one floor is absolutely necessary, as experience proves 
thiit the floor in this apartment is always dry and that the wet 
an<l filth gather in the eating room. A partition should be run 
across^ the pen, about one third of the distance from one end, in 
order to provide a separate sleeping apartment tor the hogs. It 
should be furnished with two doors opening in oppo.^ite directions. 
In patting up the partition and setting the do(;rs a 2x4 scant- 
ling shouM be laid al >ng the floor, flat s^de down, and a second 
fixed as high as you want your partition, (the paitition need 
uot be as high as the ceiling unless desired.) Your door frames 
should be made of 2 x 4 scantlino; — or heavier if desjred — the 
side post running from tlie floor to t)ie upper scantling. In set- 
ting up the frames, the foot should be placed one side of the 
bottom scantling, and the top on tiie opposite side of the upper 
scantling. Tiiis will give the door sufficient incline to shut to of 
its own weight, and the hog can easily open it by pushing agai 



\ 



ADDENDUM. 

it. Bemember, however, that the door for entering the sleeping 
apartment should slant in an opposite direction to that by which 
the animal goes out into the eating room. Now case your door 
frames with inch stufi, hang them on hooks ; to insure strength, 
these hooks should be long enough to pass through frame and 
casements, and ^o receive a nut on the opposite side. By having 
them open, one in each direction, it gives the hogs a chance to 
pass from one apartment to another at will. The frames should 
be made and the doors hung before being fastened up. A two- 
inch plank, 6 or 8 inches high, should be set into the door frames 
to allow the door to shut against, and to prevent their clogging 
with the sediment. To prevent the possibility of the doors open- 
ing so far as to remain open or s\ving back against the partition, 
they should be set one at each end of the partition in such man- 
ner that they will swing up against the wall. This plank 
should be sat in such a manner that it can be taken out at such 
times as the sow may be heavy with pigs, or in lieu thereof, a 
slanting platform may be placed on each side of the door in order 
to allow her to step over the plank without injuring herself. To 
make it warm the wall of the sleeping room should be bricked up 
with soft brick to the height of four or five feet. It should be 
boarded up again inside the brick. If the bnck is not at hand 
saw-dust, tan-bark, or a coarse cement placed between the two 
tiers of boards will answer the purpose ; or tar-paper mav be used 
in the usual manner. 

To prevent the sow from crushing her young against the wall, 
slats two inches wide and two and a half feet long, cut from a two 
inch plank should be placed all around the sleeping apartment, 
except where the doors come, twelve or fifteen inches apart. The 
feet of these slats should be placed abou c eighteen inches from the 
wall, the tops should rest against tl)e will. They should be firm- 
h' nailed to their place. The top of the sleeping apartment should 
be air and water tight and furnished with ventilators that the 
temperature may be regulated as necessity required. 

Old pens can be easily altered to suit the plan for the new. 



V 



w 



\ 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




J 



002 586 291 

B E ao M M E N I) A T I O N B 



THE following recommendations have been given Mr. Burkb 
in favor of his " Improvement in Hog-pens," the patent up- 
on which he now holds, and which is described in the within 

pages : 

Stephen Daily, of Biasher, says : — 

"I believe it is the best plan of a i^en I ever saw, both keeping 
tiie bed free from wet and dampness, and the pen so warm du- 
ring the cold weather that there is no danger of the little pigs 
freezing to death in the winter. The sleeping division is so ar- 
ranged as to prevent the sow from crushing the little pi^. Fi- 
nally, I believe it worthy the attention of all farmers, and would 
ask that everyone give it a fair examination, 

STEPHEN DAILY. 



We the undersigned, have examined Mr. Burke's patent, and 
fully concur in the foregoing statement. 

A. F. MAKTYN, Secretary St. Lawrence County Dairymen's 
Association. 

E. F. TUPPER, Trcas. E. H. 80UTHW0RTH. 

THOS. ANDREWS. S. W. ELDRIDGE. 

R. D. HILL. WILLIS SHATTUCK. 

THOMAS HARDIN. 



Mr. Timothy Lyons of Stockholm says: — 

"I went to Brasher and saw the first hog-pen ever constructed 
.ifter Mr. Burke's patent. I have examined it thoroughly and 
liave since had one cons tructed on my own premises. I am fully 
satisfied that it is the best in the country, and any man within 
ten miles of my place, that will come aud examine it and is not 
saiiyficd that it is all it is claimed to be, I will pay him for 
liis time. It is ray opinion that I will save in th/e fattening of 
my hogs this fall, three times wiiat it cost me to build the Sleep- 
ing division," 



The Courisr & Frcc.um, Potsdam, N. Y., says : — 
" The pen is very warm, wliich not only keeps the animals more 
comfortable, but makes the cost of keeping much less than in 
cold pens. Those who have seen or used these pens unite in say- 
ing that they are the most comfortable residences for swine ever 
conptnicted. " 



Mr. John Wagstafi of Stockholm says: 

1 have examined the hog-pen and find it dry, warm, and coriv 
fortable, and the best plan of a hog-pen ever invented; also I 
agree with the Canton Dairymen's Association when it acknowl 
edges that it surpasses anything that they have ever seen for con- 
venience, durability, and comfoit, and further; *'I expect to save 
three times more in their feed, than it cost me to build those d' 
visions." V , 



